468 
URES TO 
and Chanati sierras, encompass the valley, through 
which flows the Sonora Eiver, furnishing sufficient 
water to irrigate the lands adjacent. This river, which 
rises near Cocospera, has two great branches; the 
eastern or Ures branch generally bears the name of 
Sonora Eiver. The western branch has several appel- 
lations, but it is usually called the San Miguel. They 
unite near Hermosillo, and, after flowing half way to 
the gulf, lose themselves in a cienega^ or swamp. Along 
the margin of the city runs a large acequia, which is 
intersected by others in various parts, furnishing an 
abundant supply of water, and receiving in return an 
immense amount of dirt and offal. It is surprising to a 
stranger to behold the diverse uses to which these 
acequias are applied. They are in one place a public 
bathing tub ; at another half a dozen women may be 
seen washing ; a little further on an animal is being 
butchered ; and at the next house the people are 
taking up water for cooking. 
Taken as a whole, Hermosillo is the best built 
town I had seen in Sonora. Some of the private dwell- 
ings are large and substantial, with pleasant and tasty 
exteriors, and handsomely furnished. No houses show- 
ing the bare mud walls are seen in the principal 
streets, as is usually the case in El Paso del Norte, but 
all are colored, and often ornamented with columns 
and pilasters in good taste. The court-yards are filled 
with orange trees and flowering shrubs. The Alame- 
da, or public walk, which extends along the margin of 
the town, is not yet remarkable for its beauty ; time, 
however, is only wanted to render it a place of great 
attraction. It is well filled with trees, among which 
